Method of fashioning tiles



De 19 1939- M. A'. scHwElKER METHOD 0F FASHIONING TILES Filed April 14,1936 4 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 19,- 1939. M. A. scHwElKER" METHOD OF4FSH:[ONNG TILES 4 Sheng-sheet 2 Filed April 14, -1936 Dec. 19, 1939; M.A. scHwElKER 'METHOD OF FASHIONING TILES Filed April '14, 1936 4Sheets-Sheei 3 luurwuumu 'Wm' Dern 19, 1939. M, A, SCHWEIK'ER 2,183,699

METHOD oF FAsHIoNING TILES Filed April 14, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 UNITEDSTATES Illi.`

Patented Dec. 19, 1939 PATENT orsi-ca METHOD OF FASHIONING TILES MalcolmA. Schweiker, Lansdale,.Pa., assigner to Franklin Tile Company,Lansdale, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania l Application April 14,

4 Claims.

My present invention relates -to an improvement in a method and machinefor fashioning tile.

The primary object is to fashion a tile which will laiford the maximumresistance to shearing from the mortar-bed, and in-my present inventionI accomplish this by forming on the back of the tile undercut sectionsof angular or curved form which stand apart one from another, in grids,`pads or islands.

I `It is common to form tiles withparallel ridges to' penetrate, takehold of, and adhere to the mortar-bed, and heretofore ridges have f beenmost commonly formed with undercut edges running'in one direction byextruding the material of which the tile is formed in a plastic statethrough a ,pugmill This method results in the maximum resistance toshear being only at right angles to the single direction of the dovetailgrooves.

'I 'he purpose of this present invention is to greatly. increase Itheundercut area by the formation of additional dovetailed or undercutedges, which are so arranged as to withstand with equal resistanceshearing force from any direction; and to do this grids, pads or islandsare formed in a variety of different shapes, that is to say square,oblong, triangular, in any polygonal form, or even with curved edges.

Obviously, dilfer ent mechanical means might be devised for vformingthese undercut grids, islands or pads. As one example, I have devisedseveral successful machines for carrying out my method in which theundercut grooves are cut in the tile,`preferably prior to the time thetile receives its highest point of ring.

These machines are intended to groove the tile from the under side forvarious reasons, and,

primarily, to prevent scratching, blemishing. or otherwise damaging thesurface of the tile, whether glazed or unglazed, which might result fromresting the tile on the surface, which is ultimately to be the finishedface of the tile, and applying cutting pressure from above. This planhas other advantages, such as uniformity of depth ofcut and the easy andquick disposal of the cuttings.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation and partly in section of a'form of machinefor cutting straight undercut grooves;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on line 2-'2 of Fig. 1; f

Fig. 3 is an edge' view of a tile after* the rst g cutting;

1936, Serial No. 74,371

Fig. 4 is a similar View after the second cut ting;

Fig. 5 is a plan View of the same;

Fig. 6 is kan edge view of a completed tile;

Fig. '7 is a plan View of the same;

Fig. 8 is a top plan View of a turntable having a plurality ofconcentrically curved openings throughout the major portion of thesurface of the table and showing the cutters therebeneath for cuttingthe opposite undercut edges of a curved cutting in the lower surface ofa tile;

Fig. 9 is a section through the line 9 9 of Fig. 8; v

Fig. 10 is a section on line Ill-I0 of Fig.'8;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing a cutter inplace forming one edge of a curve; 1

Fig. 12 is a similar View in which the edgel of the cutter and thecorresponding groove is slightly curved instead of straight;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary view partly in section showing the entire formof rotary cutter for form- .ing both edges of the undercut groovessimultaneously; v

Fig. 14 is a view of a practical form of curved line undercut; and

Fig. 15is a fragmentary section on the line |5-I5 of Fig. 8.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the'numera'l: l represents a tablemounted on wheels 2, and 3 are tracks on which the table travels backand forth. The tile T is supported on the top of this table. A v'gang of'cutters 4, 5 and 6 is mounted on the shaft l, and the latter is drivenby the motor 8, which latter is ysupported on a suitable frame 9, and iscapable of being raised and lowered by turning the handwheel l!! whichhas a worm-shaft II which engages the worm-pinion I2 on the shaft I3,and the shaft I3 has pinions I4 on the ends, the teeth of which meshwith the racks I5, so that by turning the hand-wheel.

I0, the motor 8 with its shaft 'l and the previo-usly-mentioned cutters4, 5 and 6 may be raised or lowered to cut the grooves IE the requireddepth.

Referring to the worm-shaft I I, the pitch of the worm is slight, sothat the cutter stays yin position. It was found that if the pitch waslarge, it would be necessary vto have a-.lock to hold the motor andcutting wheels in position so as to provide a uniform depth of cut.

AfterA the tile T is placed on the support I'I of the table (as shown inFigs. 1 and 2) the table is pushed forward the length of the tile, thegang 0f wheels 4, 5 and 6 making three parallel grooves iov undercut onone side (as shown in Figs. 1 and 3). Then by turning the tile around180 on the table, and pulling the table back, the opposite edges of thegrooves are undercut. This gives the tile the formation shown in Figs. 4and 5, namely with the dovetailing or undercut extending parallel and inone direction only. The support l1 for the tile is so arranged that thetile can be turned at any angle for subsequent cuts.

By giving the tile an extra turn, or to an intermediate position, thecross grooves i8 are cut by pushing the table forward in one direction,then by turning the tile around at 180 and bringing the table back theremaining undercut is made, with the result that the grids, islands orpads I9 are formed on the back of the tile.

Thus there is a cutting operation with each movement of the table pastthe wheels, that is to say there is no empty return so to speak.

By this method, I provide a tile with the separated or isolated pads orislands I9 having the undercut or dovetailed formation on four differentsides or edges.

These pads or islands could be triangular in shape or polygonal, inother words formed so that they will have in excess of two undercut ordovetailed edges, thus providing a maximum hold or anchorage on the wallor surface which is to be lined or faced with tile.

While the abrasive wheels 4, 5 and 5 are arranged at an angle so thatthe tile may rest horizontally thereabove, as illustrated in. Figs. land 2, it is obvious that the same effect could be achieved in disposingthe shaft carrying the cutting wheels in a horizontal position andtilting the tile, at an angle, in other words the common plane of theedges of the abrading wheels 4, 5 and 6 must always be at an obtuseangle to the surface of the tile to be grooved.

It has been customary to provide tiles of this character with parallelribs, such as 20, this may be accomplished by first forming the tile ina die with a series of parallel ribs, after which the undercutting isdone, as has been described, by moving the tile in contact with a gangof abrasive wheels in two or more different directions. It is obvious,however, that these ribs are by no means imperative and, in manyinstances, the undercut grooves forming the pads or islands, would becut on a perfectly flat and unrbbed surface.

Thus it has been my desire to cover the idea of forming undercutcross-sections on the back of a tile running in two or more directions,such forming to be accomplished by grinding the tile preferably prior tothe time it is subjected to the highest firing temperature, or finalbonding action, whether or not in the presence of heat, whether suchhighest firing temperature is accomplished by what is known as thetwo-fire process or the one-fire process.

In other words, it is intended to cover the situation whether the tileis made by one-fire or twore, or whether it is based upon a high firebiscuit and a low fire glaze, or a low fire biscuit and a high fireglaze, or upon unglazed tile subjected to one or more firing cycles.

As it is possible to make a curved undercut groove just as easily as astraight groove, I have illustrated in Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 15 a form ofmachine for doing this. The numeral 25 represents a turntable rotatablysupported on the top of a supporting pedestal 26. A plurality ofconcentric cuts or slots 21 are formed in this table, and these taper ordiminish in width upwardly as clearly illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and 15,in order to provide clearance for the cutters which extend through thesecuts or slots 21.

The cutters are represented by the numerals 28, 29, and 30, and theseare keyed on a drive-shaft 3l extending from the motor 32.

As the turntable 25 is rotated, one edge of the undercut groove 33 iscut as shown in Fig. 9, and then in order to cut the opposite edges ofthe undercut grooves of the tile, the cutters 28, 29 and 33 must bereversed on the shaft 3 I, as shown in Fig. 10, that is to say so thatthe smallest cutter 30 is nearest the motor 32, and each cutter isreversed so that the beveled edges extend in the opposite direction fromthe edges of the cutters as shown in Fig. 9, and in both instances theedges must be in alignment in order to make the dovetail undercut, andthe shaft 3l must be at the required angle with respect to the lowersurface of the turntable.

When the cutters are thus rearranged, the position of the tile T isreversed or in other words turned around 180 and the turntable is againrotated from the starting point, whereupon the opposite undercut wall ofthe groove is formed.

Obviously, instead of removing the cutters, turning them over, andreversing their position on the shaft, two motors might be employed, onehaving the cutters arranged and on a mount as in Fig. 9 and the other asin Fig. 10.

The tile T is placed over the table with its back downwardly and inposition over the cuts or slots 21 in the path of the cutter in positionto be grooved by the cutters.

In Fig. 12, an edge 35 of the cutter 30 is slightly curved in order toform a correspondingly curved edge 36 in the groove 21 formed in thetile.

In Fig. 13, a single cutter 31 mounted on a vertical shaft, is shown forcutting both sides of the undercut groove simultaneously, the cutterstarting in from an edge of the tile. This cutter can be used just assatisfactorily for cutting the grooves IS where the tile slides back andforth, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, as well as on the rotatable tableshown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10.

In Fig. 14, the back of a tile is illustrated having grids, pads orholes 38 with curved undercut edges as distinguished from the straightundercut edges illustrated in Fig. 7.

This invention is just as practical for unglazed tiles as for glazed.and it is intended that this improvement should apply to both. Byunglazed tile is meant such as are used on floors, and even in somecases on walls as distinguished from the glazed or glassy surfaced tileapplied on biscuit.

Attention is called to the fact that there are known substitutes used inplace of tile; and it is my intention that this process should beapplicable to these substitutes, and it is, therefore, pointed out thatany tile substitute, which is made by a chemical or physical bondingaction, would be restricted from using this process to cut the groovesin the tile prior to the time the substitute or synthetic tile issubjected to the final bonding action, either chemical or physical, orsome nature other than firing.

I claim:

1. An improved method of forming separated grids. pads or islands on thesurface of a tile or the like, which consists in dovetailing orundercutting the said surface on all of the edges of said grids, pads orislands, by removing the material from the edges thereof, and from allof the surrounding surface of the tile intervening between said grids,pads o-r islands, thus leaving them as isolated and separatedprojections with undercut; edges.

2. An improved method of fashioning tiles with a plurality of isolatedundercut grids, pads or islands and the like which consists in passingthe tile in Contact with an abrading surface in one direction, thenreversing the position of the tile, repeating the process in theopposite direction, then turning the tile to an intermediate position,passing it in Contact with the abrading device, and iinally reversingthe position and passing it again in contact with the alorading device,whereby to cut grooves extending under the surface of said tile and inat least two different directions and at angles to each other, andduring the foregoing 'operations forming relatively wide areas aroundthe grids, pads or islands by cutting the tile to a diierent plane fromthat of the outer surfaces of the isolate areas. y t

3. An improved method of fashioning tiles with isolated grids, pads orislands which consists in moving the tile in contact with a plurality ofspaced apart abrading tools which cut at an angle other than aright-angle while heldin dierent positions so that the diii'erentgrooves cut willA tiles with isolated areas on at least one side thereofby a process of reducing the thickness of the tile throughout areasthereof, thereby forming and leaving intact a plurality of independentand separated grids, pads or islands, with the cuter surface coincidingwith the original surface of the tile, and the bottoms of the removedareas in a plane between the original opposite faces of the tile, andundercutting or dovetailing the edges of the isolated areas during themethod of fashioning of the tile.

MALCOLM A. SCHWEIKER.

